{"id":545,"date":"2006-03-15T00:29:00","date_gmt":"2006-03-15T07:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/2006\/03\/catholics-respond-to-the-da-vinci-code\/"},"modified":"2006-03-15T00:29:00","modified_gmt":"2006-03-15T07:29:00","slug":"catholics-respond-to-the-da-vinci-code","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/churchofthemasses\/2006\/03\/catholics-respond-to-the-da-vinci-code\/","title":{"rendered":"Catholics Respond to The Da Vinci Code"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

[NOTE FROM BARB: My friend Matt Pinto sent me the following message. He said I could post ithere\u2026.Remember, May 19th everybody goes Over the hedge<\/em>!]
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Dear Friends<\/span><\/span>, <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

My co-worker Lisa sat with her husband, Tim, at the theatre. They were out on one of their \u201cdate nights\u201d to see the new film, Firewall<\/span><\/i><\/em>. As the spots for upcoming movie releases began to roll, they were about to be stunned. The preview for The Da Vinci Code<\/span><\/i><\/em> came on, and moviegoers were treated to a fast-paced, heart-pumping two minutes of excitement and suspense. The preview, which included scenes of a murder and an Opus Dei \u201cmonk\u201d whipping and cutting himself, ended with the phrase, \u201cSeek the Truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

But what came next was totally unexpected<\/u>: A rousing applause from perhaps 200 people in the audience. A few people even stood up. I\u2019m not sure about you, but I\u2019ve never seen anyone stand up and applaud a movie preview.<\/p>\n

This is not good news.<\/p>\n

An estimated one in three adult Americans have read The Da Vinci Code<\/span><\/i><\/em>, according to Outreach<\/span><\/i><\/em> Magazine (March\/April, 2006). More than 40 million copies have sold in 44 languages. It\u2019s been on the New York Times<\/span><\/i><\/em> Best Seller List for nearly three years. Untold damage has been done to the faith of millions.<\/u> <\/p>\n

Lindy Lowry, editor of Outreach<\/span><\/i><\/em>, conducted \u201cman on the street\u201d interviews outside of a local Barnes & Noble store. Sarah, a 21-year-old college student, responded that she was now confirmed in her belief that Jesus was just a man and that Christians were \u201cfull of it.\u201d Sarah is not alone. Not long ago, two family members spoke to me within a few weeks of each other about serious concerns and questions they had about the book\u2019s claims. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

These corrosive seeds have been planted in the minds of millions. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Catholics Must Respond <\/span><\/span><\/b><\/strong><\/p>\n

As always, evangelical Protestants have taken serious steps to respond to the May 19th release of The Da Vinci Code<\/span><\/i><\/em> movie. They\u2019re running national video conferences, conducting massive mailings to churches, and they\u2019ve written a dozen books (compared to just a few from Catholics). Yet, The Da Vinci Code<\/span><\/i><\/em> is about the Catholic Church! We Catholics need to respond.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This is why I\u2019m writing you about the Da Vinci Outreach<\/a><\/span><\/b><\/strong> initiative <\/span><\/span>(www.DaVinciOutreach.com)<\/span><\/span><\/span>. A growing coalition of Catholic groups, including Catholic Exchange, Ascension Press, the Catholic League, Human Life International, and others have joined together to respond.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

We have prepared free materials<\/u> to equip you and\/or your parish to respond to this major cultural event that is going to slam us in full force in the months ahead. The Da Vinci Code<\/span><\/i><\/em> will be the cultural conversation in April, May, and June of this year. You can help your family, friends, and parishioners get prepared-with relative ease.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The DaVinciOutreach.com website features FREE, ready-made resources, including:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n